Serpent's Claim (Serpent's Touch 2)

AMIRA

Aguard stuck his foot out, stopping me from closing the door. More guards barged into the room, shoving me aside. One of them grabbed me around the middle.

Bherlon released Geltar, and she ran away, sobbing.

“Kyllen!” I yelled to warn him as soon as I got my voice back.

But he was on his feet already. The guards cut him off from his sheaths with daggers and swords he’d left on the chair by the table.

He kicked a sword out of the hand of the closest guard. Spinning on his heel, he stabbed another guard in the chest with it. Whipping around, he faced the next one, then…shrank back, startled.

“Hapon? You?” Kyllen’s voice filled with bitter disappointment. He hesitated for a fraction of a moment, his hand with the sword paused in the air.

Using the moment, another guard lunged at Kyllen from behind, slashing across his back with a dagger. The blade came back, dripping with blood.

Kyllen arched backwards, roaring in pain.

“No!” I fought against the rough hands gripping me.

Bherlon grabbed a handful of Kyllen’s senties. A guardkicked my man in the back of his knees. They buckled, sending him down to his knees. Yanking Kyllen’s head back, Bherlon raised his knife, aiming it at Kyllen’s throat.

“No. Please!” I cried in horror, tears streaming down my face. “Please, don’t.”

The guard dragged me through the door, but I grabbed the frame. Holding to it with everything I had, I scratched the wood, breaking my nails.

“Kyllen!” I screamed.

The guards held him down. They weren’t humans. Their strength rivaled his. And there were so many of them.

Cold moonlight reflected off the raised blade in Bherlon’s hand.

“Close your eyes, Amira,” Kyllen croaked against the guards’ hold. He didn’t want me to see what they were about to do to him.

Bherlon lowered his hand. The blade slashed through the air on its way to Kyllen’s neck.

“No!” I screamed.

The guard yanked me out of the room. My fingers scraped the frame uselessly, letting go.

“Let me go! Let me go to him. Please,” I screamed.

I cried.

I pleaded. “Kyllen!”

A hand slapped against my mouth. “Shut it!” the guard hissed in my ear.

He dragged me down the giant branch of the palace tree, then down a small staircase that ended with a ladder hidden in the shrub at the bottom of the trunk.

There were more of Bherlon’s guards here. One tossed me over his shoulder while climbing down the ladder. He then threw me on the bottom of a boat.

“Take her to Ufaris,” a voice said in the darkness as several men jumped into the boat with me. “Tell them she’s a gift to King Zeldren from the High Lord of Ellohi. We all know, our High Lord will need the king to turn a blind eye to what has happened here tonight.”

Someone pushed the boat away from the dock.

“Let me go!” I scrambled to my feet.

“Down!” one of the guards yelled.

“The stupid wench will flip us over,” another warned.

The boat swayed side to side precariously. I fought the rough arms, clawing at the guards’ uniforms. “Let me go to him!”

I had to be with him. My place was with Kyllen, come what might.

“Enough!” A punch landed heavily in my jaw, knocking me to the bottom of the boat. Pain rang through my skull. My face went numb.

“Hey! That will leave a bruise,” someone hissed. “If you mess up her face, it’ll bring the price down.”

“What price?” the other replied. “She’s a gift, isn’t she?”